DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Regarding first argument:
Applicant argues in substance that amended independent apparatus claims overcome prior 101 rejection.
Examiner has reviewed amended claim language and agrees. Previous 101 rejection is hereby withdrawn.
Regarding second argument:
Applicant argues in substance that amended claim language overcomes previous prior art rejections.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The technology at hand involves RIS devices and HARQ retransmissions. The claim language of independent claims now claims an “activation signal” but claims no definition of the activation signal. Given that the term “activation signal” is a generic term not ordinarily associated with a specific signal in the art, and that there is not a definition of the activation signal in the claim language the examiner is reading this term to mean a HARQ-NACK signal. While the art does not explicitly state that the HARQ-NACK signal is sent, it does reference HARQ retransmissions which one of ordinary skill in the art would know are not transmitted unless a NACK signal is received. With this in mind, the disclosure implies that a NACK signal is sent and received and the retransmission is sent. Regarding there being multiple retransmissions, the cited art states that there is a transmission pattern comprising multiple transmissions in different directions from the RIS to the terminal (UE). The prior art also states that transmission information is stored at the RIS and used to generate the transmission pattern. This meets the additional limitations in the amended claim language. For at least these reasons the rejection is proper and thus maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 24-30is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (US 20250150119 A1) hereafter Lee.
Regarding Claim 24:
Lee discloses:
An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a reconfigurable intelligent surface; at least one receiver and at least one transmitter; a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured ([¶0185] Referring to FIG. 19, an RC 1900 may include a transceiver 1910, a controller 1920, and a storage unit 1930. The controller 1910 may be defined as a circuit or an application-specific integrated circuit or at least one processor.) to: receive a first number of repetitions of a signal transmission from a base station; store in-phase and quadrature signal information of the signal transmission from the base station; ([¶0137] the RIS 903, may identify information about a corresponding reflection pattern in which reception strength of a synchronization signal for each of the plurality of beams of the base station satisfies a specific threshold value (β) or more for each reflection pattern of the RIS 903 and timing at which the corresponding synchronization signal is measured, and may store the corresponding information. ) generate a second number of repetitions of the signal transmission based at least in part on the stored in-phase and quadrature signal information of the signal transmission; ([¶0142] According to an embodiment, the control signal 1001a transmitted from the base station 901 to the RC 904 may include at least one of information about timing at which measurement for obtaining the optimal beam of the base station 901 and the optimal reflection pattern of the RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 (e.g., index information indicating a reflection pattern) and information about an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 are applied, information about a period (e.g., a beam sweeping period) at which synchronization signals for each of the plurality of beams of the base station 901 are transmitted, and information on the number of times the period at which the synchronization signals for each of the plurality of beams of the base station 901 are transmitted is repeated during a time interval in which a specific reflection pattern is applied.) and transmit the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission to a user equipment (UE) via the reconfigurable intelligent surface. ([¶0187] The controller 1920 may control the overall operation of the RC 1900 according to embodiments proposed in the disclosure. For example, the controller 1920 may control a signal flow between respective blocks to perform an operation according to a procedure described above with reference to FIGS. 6 to 16. For example, the controller 1920 may control an operation proposed in the disclosure, such as controlling an RIS based on a control signal according to the above-described embodiments. [Abstract] transmitting, to an RC, control information for controlling a plurality of reflective patterns of an RIS; transmitting synchronizing signals corresponding to a plurality of beams of the base station via the RIS to a terminal positioned in a shadow region, [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission.)
Regarding Claim 25:
Lee discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: store one or more of the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station; and generate the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission based at least in part on the stored one or more of the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission. ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information. [¶0072] Resource allocation type 0/1 flag: Indicates whether the resource allocation scheme is type 0 or type 1. Type 0 applies a bitmap scheme to allocate resources on a resource block group (RBG) basis. In the LTE system, a basic scheduling unit is a resource block (RB) represented by time and frequency-domain resources, and an RBG includes a plurality of RBs, which is a basic scheduling unit in type 0. Type 1 allows for allocation of a specific RB in an RBG. [¶0073] Resource block assignment: Indicates an RB assigned for data transmission. Represented resources are determined according to a system bandwidth and a resource allocation scheme. [¶0074] Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): Indicates a modulation scheme used for data transmission and the size of a transport block, which is data to be transmitted. [¶0075] HARQ process number: Indicates the number of an HARQ process. [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission. [¶0077] Redundancy version: Indicates an HARQ redundancy version. [¶0078] Transmit Power Control (TPC) command for Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH): Indicates a TPC command for a UL control channel, PUCCH.)
Regarding Claim 26:
Lee discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: apply a first reflection configuration for the reconfigurable intelligent surface when the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission are received from the base station; and apply a second reflection configuration for the reconfigurable intelligent surface when the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission are transmitted to the UE. ([¶0141] Referring to FIG. 10A, in a wireless communication system 900, when transmitting synchronization signals for each of a plurality of beams (e.g., L beams) to a test terminal 902 in a target shadow area 905 to obtain an optimal beam of a base station 901 and an optimal reflection pattern of an RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, the base station 901 may once transmit, to an RC 904, a control signal 1001a in which time intervals to be applied to each of a plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 which are composed of a single or a plurality of synchronization signal periods are configured. For example, when applying the first reflection pattern 906, the second reflection pattern 907, and the third reflection pattern 908 to the RC 904, the base station 901 may transmit the control signal 1001a in which a time interval which needs to be applied for the first reflection pattern 907, a time interval which needs to be applied for the second reflection pattern 907, and a time interval which needs to be applied for the third reflection pattern 208 are configured.)
Regarding Claim 27:
Lee discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive control information including: a repetition pattern indication associated with the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission, wherein the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission are transmitted based at least in part on the repetition pattern. ([¶0016] In an embodiment, the control information may include at least one of timing information indicating a time point at which the terminal measures the strength of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams of the base station for each of the plurality of reflection patterns, indication information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns and order information indicating an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns are controlled, information about a transmission period of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams, and information indicating a number of times the transmission period of the synchronization signals is repeated for each of the plurality of reflection patterns.)
Regarding Claim 28:
Lee discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive control information including a first value indicating the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station, and a second value indicating the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission. ([¶0016] In an embodiment, the control information may include at least one of timing information indicating a time point at which the terminal measures the strength of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams of the base station for each of the plurality of reflection patterns, indication information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns and order information indicating an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns are controlled, information about a transmission period of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams, and information indicating a number of times the transmission period of the synchronization signals is repeated for each of the plurality of reflection patterns. [¶0141] Referring to FIG. 10A, in a wireless communication system 900, when transmitting synchronization signals for each of a plurality of beams (e.g., L beams) to a test terminal 902 in a target shadow area 905 to obtain an optimal beam of a base station 901 and an optimal reflection pattern of an RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, the base station 901 may once transmit, to an RC 904, a control signal 1001a in which time intervals to be applied to each of a plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 which are composed of a single or a plurality of synchronization signal periods are configured. For example, when applying the first reflection pattern 906, the second reflection pattern 907, and the third reflection pattern 908 to the RC 904, the base station 901 may transmit the control signal 1001a in which a time interval which needs to be applied for the first reflection pattern 907, a time interval which needs to be applied for the second reflection pattern 907, and a time interval which needs to be applied for the third reflection pattern 208 are configured.)
Regarding Claim 29:
Lee discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive an activation signal from the UE, wherein at least one of the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission is transmitted in response to the activation signal. ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information. [¶0072] Resource allocation type 0/1 flag: Indicates whether the resource allocation scheme is type 0 or type 1. Type 0 applies a bitmap scheme to allocate resources on a resource block group (RBG) basis. In the LTE system, a basic scheduling unit is a resource block (RB) represented by time and frequency-domain resources, and an RBG includes a plurality of RBs, which is a basic scheduling unit in type 0. Type 1 allows for allocation of a specific RB in an RBG. [¶0073] Resource block assignment: Indicates an RB assigned for data transmission. Represented resources are determined according to a system bandwidth and a resource allocation scheme. [¶0074] Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): Indicates a modulation scheme used for data transmission and the size of a transport block, which is data to be transmitted. [¶0075] HARQ process number: Indicates the number of an HARQ process. [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission. [¶0077] Redundancy version: Indicates an HARQ redundancy version. [¶0078] Transmit Power Control (TPC) command for Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH): Indicates a TPC command for a UL control channel, PUCCH.)
Regarding Claim 30:
Lee discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
A method of wireless communication for a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) device, comprising: receiving a first number of repetitions of a signal transmission from a base station; storing in-phase and quadrature signal information of the signal transmission from the base station; ([¶0137] the RIS 903, may identify information about a corresponding reflection pattern in which reception strength of a synchronization signal for each of the plurality of beams of the base station satisfies a specific threshold value (β) or more for each reflection pattern of the RIS 903 and timing at which the corresponding synchronization signal is measured, and may store the corresponding information. ) generating a second number of repetitions of the signal transmission based at least in part on the stored in-phase and quadrature signal information of the signal transmission; ([¶0142] According to an embodiment, the control signal 1001a transmitted from the base station 901 to the RC 904 may include at least one of information about timing at which measurement for obtaining the optimal beam of the base station 901 and the optimal reflection pattern of the RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 (e.g., index information indicating a reflection pattern) and information about an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 are applied, information about a period (e.g., a beam sweeping period) at which synchronization signals for each of the plurality of beams of the base station 901 are transmitted, and information on the number of times the period at which the synchronization signals for each of the plurality of beams of the base station 901 are transmitted is repeated during a time interval in which a specific reflection pattern is applied.) and transmitting the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission to a user equipment (UE) via a reconfigurable intelligent surface. ([¶0130] Referring to (a) in FIG. 8, a base station 801 in a wireless communication system 800 may communicate with a terminal 802 located in a target shadow area 805 via the i (1≤i≤L)th transmission beam 806-i among L transmission beams 806 and the j (1≤j≤P)th reflection beam 807-j among P reflection beams 807 according to P reflection patterns of an RIS 803. At this time, if communication quality between the base station 801 and the terminal 802 via a combination of the i-th transmission beam 806-i and the j-th reflection beam 807-j among a plurality of transmission beam-reflection beam combinations is the best, the i-th transmission beam 806-i may be an optimal beam of the base station 801 for the target shadow area 805, and the j-th reflection pattern corresponding to the j-th reflection beam 806-j may be an optimal reflection pattern of an RIS 803 for the shadow area 805.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 20250150119 A1) hereafter Lee in view of “Outage Performance Analysis of HARQ-Aided Multi-RIS Systems” 2021 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC) 29 March 2021 hereafter IEEE.
Regarding Claim 1:
Lee discloses:
An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured ([¶0175] Referring to FIG. 17, a terminal 1700 may include a transceiver 1710, a controller 1720, and a storage unit 1730. The controller 1710 may be defined as a circuit or an application-specific integrated circuit or at least one processor.) to: receive a first number of repetitions of a signal transmission from a base station; ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission.) transmit, from the UE, an activation signal to a reconfigurable intelligent surface device based at least in part on the UE being unable to decode the signal transmission, wherein the activation signal enables the reconfigurable intelligent surface device to generate a second number of repetitions of the signal transmission based at least in part on in-phase and quadrature signal information of the signal transmission stored at the reconfigurable intelligent surface device; ([¶0145] According to an embodiment, the control signal 1001b transmitted from the base station 901 to the RC 904 may include at least one of information about timing at which measurement for obtaining the optimal beam of the base station 901 and the optimal reflection pattern of the RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 (e.g., index information indicating a reflection pattern), information about a period (e.g., information about a beam sweeping period of the base station) at which synchronization signals for each of the plurality of beams of the base station 901 are transmitted, and information on the number of times the period at which the synchronization signals for each of the plurality of beams of the base station 901 are transmitted is repeated during a time interval in which a specific reflection pattern is applied. At this time, if information indicating the reflection pattern is the index information indicating the reflection pattern, an index for the corresponding reflection pattern may be defined as p (1≤p≤P) when the corresponding reflection pattern is, for example, Θ.sub.p in FIG. 6. A detailed description of the information about the timing will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13.[¶0071] HARQ retransmission. ) receive a second number of repetitions of the signal transmission transmitted from a reconfigurable intelligent surface device;([¶0177] According to an embodiment, the RIS 605 may reflect, to the terminals 603, 604 located at the shadow area 607, at least one beam directed to the RIS 605 among a plurality of beams of the base station 601 for performing the wireless communication with the terminals) and
Lee does not disclose:
decode the signal transmission based at least in part on the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device.
IEEE discloses:
decode the signal transmission based at least in part on the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device. ([Part II Section A] discloses channel modeling with signals from both the RIS and the Base station being decoded. [Part II Section B] discloses the use of a HARQ protocol in decoding the transmission data)
Lee and IEEE are analogous as they both pertain to wireless communication. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee to decode the signal as taught by IEEE in order to improve coverage within the mmWave and terahertz bands ([¶0005] Lee).
Regarding Claim 2:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive control information including a first value indicating the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station, and a second value indicating the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device. ([¶0016] In an embodiment, the control information may include at least one of timing information indicating a time point at which the terminal measures the strength of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams of the base station for each of the plurality of reflection patterns, indication information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns and order information indicating an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns are controlled, information about a transmission period of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams, and information indicating a number of times the transmission period of the synchronization signals is repeated for each of the plurality of reflection patterns.)
Regarding Claim 3:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive control information including a repetition pattern indication associated with the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device, wherein the signal transmission is decoded based at least in part on the repetition pattern indication. ([¶0016] In an embodiment, the control information may include at least one of timing information indicating a time point at which the terminal measures the strength of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams of the base station for each of the plurality of reflection patterns, indication information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns and order information indicating an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns are controlled, information about a transmission period of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams, and information indicating a number of times the transmission period of the synchronization signals is repeated for each of the plurality of reflection patterns.)
Regarding Claim 4:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the repetition pattern indication indicates an interleaved repetition pattern where the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station are interleaved with the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device. ([¶0016] In an embodiment, the control information may include at least one of timing information indicating a time point at which the terminal measures the strength of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams of the base station for each of the plurality of reflection patterns, indication information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns and order information indicating an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns are controlled, information about a transmission period of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams, and information indicating a number of times the transmission period of the synchronization signals is repeated for each of the plurality of reflection patterns.)
Regarding Claim 5:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the repetition pattern indication indicates a consecutive repetition pattern where the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station are scheduled in a first consecutive order, and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device are scheduled in a second consecutive order. ([¶0016] In an embodiment, the control information may include at least one of timing information indicating a time point at which the terminal measures the strength of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams of the base station for each of the plurality of reflection patterns, indication information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns and order information indicating an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns are controlled, information about a transmission period of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams, and information indicating a number of times the transmission period of the synchronization signals is repeated for each of the plurality of reflection patterns.)
Regarding Claim 6:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: process the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device based at least in part on whether the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device are quasi co-located with different downlink reference signals or a same downlink reference signal. ([¶0082] Referring to FIG. 2, the PDCCH 201 is time-multiplexed with a data transmission channel, Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) 202 and transmitted across a total system bandwidth. A region of the PDCCH 201 is represented as the number of OFDM symbols and indicated to a terminal by a Control Format Indicator (CFI) transmitted on a Physical Control Format Indicator CHannel (PCFICH). As the PDCCH 201 is assigned to starting OFDM symbols of a subframe, it has the advantage of allowing the terminal to decode a DL scheduling assignment as soon as possible, thereby reducing the decoding delay of a DownLink Shared CHannel (DL-SCH), that is, an overall DL transmission delay. Since one PDCCH carries one DCI message and multiple terminals may be scheduled simultaneously on DL and UL, multiple PDCCHs may be transmitted simultaneously within each cell. A cell-specific reference signal (CRS) 203 is used as a reference signal (RS) for decoding the PDCCH 201. The CRS 203 is transmitted across the total band in every subframe and subject to different scrambling and resource mapping depending on a cell identity (ID). Since the CRS 203 is an RS common to all terminals, terminal-specific beamforming may not be used. Therefore, a multi-antenna transmission scheme for the PDCCH in LTE is limited to open-loop transmit diversity. The number of ports for the CRS 203 is implicitly known to the terminal from decoding of a Physical Broadcast CHannel (PBCH).)
Regarding Claim 7:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein at least one processor is further configured to: receive scheduling information indicating at least one of: a first time gap between a last repetition of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device in a downlink control channel and an availability of a downlink data channel, a second time gap between a last repetition of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device in a downlink data channel and an availability of an uplink control channel, or a third time gap between a last repetition of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device in a downlink control channel and an availability of an uplink data channel; and communicate with the base station based on the scheduling information. ([¶0143] According to another embodiment, the control signal 1001a transmitted from the base station 901 to the RC 904 may include at least one of information about timing at which measurement for obtaining the optimal beam of the base station 901 and the optimal reflection pattern of the RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 (e.g., index information indicating a reflection pattern) and information about an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 are applied, and information about a time interval which needs to be applied for each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903. At this time, if information indicating the reflection pattern is the index information indicating the reflection pattern, an index for the corresponding reflection pattern may be defined as p (1≤p≤P) when the corresponding reflection pattern is, for example, Θ.sub.p in FIG. 6. Further, the information about the time interval which needs to be applied for each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 may be represented in a slot unit, a symbol unit, or an absolute time unit (e.g., s, ms, us, etc.). A detailed description of the information about the timing will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13.)
Regarding Claim 8:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive scheduling information for a first uplink transmission in a first time period and a second uplink transmission in a second time period; receive control information indicating a number of repetitions of the first uplink transmission and the second uplink transmission, wherein the repetitions of the first uplink transmission and the second uplink transmission are to be transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device; transmit the first uplink transmission in the first time period; and delay the second uplink transmission based at least in part on the number of repetitions of the first uplink transmission. ([¶0143] According to another embodiment, the control signal 1001a transmitted from the base station 901 to the RC 904 may include at least one of information about timing at which measurement for obtaining the optimal beam of the base station 901 and the optimal reflection pattern of the RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 (e.g., index information indicating a reflection pattern) and information about an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 are applied, and information about a time interval which needs to be applied for each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903. At this time, if information indicating the reflection pattern is the index information indicating the reflection pattern, an index for the corresponding reflection pattern may be defined as p (1≤p≤P) when the corresponding reflection pattern is, for example, Θ.sub.p in FIG. 6. Further, the information about the time interval which needs to be applied for each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 may be represented in a slot unit, a symbol unit, or an absolute time unit (e.g., s, ms, us, etc.). A detailed description of the information about the timing will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13.)
Regarding Claim 9:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit, from the UE, a transmit power value to the reconfigurable intelligent surface device based at least in part on at least one of the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station having a different receive power than at least one of the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device. ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information. [¶0072] Resource allocation type 0/1 flag: Indicates whether the resource allocation scheme is type 0 or type 1. Type 0 applies a bitmap scheme to allocate resources on a resource block group (RBG) basis. In the LTE system, a basic scheduling unit is a resource block (RB) represented by time and frequency-domain resources, and an RBG includes a plurality of RBs, which is a basic scheduling unit in type 0. Type 1 allows for allocation of a specific RB in an RBG. [¶0073] Resource block assignment: Indicates an RB assigned for data transmission. Represented resources are determined according to a system bandwidth and a resource allocation scheme. [¶0074] Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): Indicates a modulation scheme used for data transmission and the size of a transport block, which is data to be transmitted. [¶0075] HARQ process number: Indicates the number of an HARQ process. [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission. [¶0077] Redundancy version: Indicates an HARQ redundancy version. [¶0078] Transmit Power Control (TPC) command for Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH): Indicates a TPC command for a UL control channel, PUCCH.)
Regarding Claim 10:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device are received in response to the activation signal. ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information. [¶0072] Resource allocation type 0/1 flag: Indicates whether the resource allocation scheme is type 0 or type 1. Type 0 applies a bitmap scheme to allocate resources on a resource block group (RBG) basis. In the LTE system, a basic scheduling unit is a resource block (RB) represented by time and frequency-domain resources, and an RBG includes a plurality of RBs, which is a basic scheduling unit in type 0. Type 1 allows for allocation of a specific RB in an RBG. [¶0073] Resource block assignment: Indicates an RB assigned for data transmission. Represented resources are determined according to a system bandwidth and a resource allocation scheme. [¶0074] Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): Indicates a modulation scheme used for data transmission and the size of a transport block, which is data to be transmitted. [¶0075] HARQ process number: Indicates the number of an HARQ process. [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission. [¶0077] Redundancy version: Indicates an HARQ redundancy version. [¶0078] Transmit Power Control (TPC) command for Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH): Indicates a TPC command for a UL control channel, PUCCH.)
Regarding Claim 11:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the activation signal includes information that enables the reconfigurable intelligent surface device to identify the signal transmission to be repeated. ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information. [¶0072] Resource allocation type 0/1 flag: Indicates whether the resource allocation scheme is type 0 or type 1. Type 0 applies a bitmap scheme to allocate resources on a resource block group (RBG) basis. In the LTE system, a basic scheduling unit is a resource block (RB) represented by time and frequency-domain resources, and an RBG includes a plurality of RBs, which is a basic scheduling unit in type 0. Type 1 allows for allocation of a specific RB in an RBG. [¶0073] Resource block assignment: Indicates an RB assigned for data transmission. Represented resources are determined according to a system bandwidth and a resource allocation scheme. [¶0074] Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): Indicates a modulation scheme used for data transmission and the size of a transport block, which is data to be transmitted. [¶0075] HARQ process number: Indicates the number of an HARQ process. [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission. [¶0077] Redundancy version: Indicates an HARQ redundancy version. [¶0078] Transmit Power Control (TPC) command for Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH): Indicates a TPC command for a UL control channel, PUCCH.)
Regarding Claim 12:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device are associated with different layers of a multi-layer transmission, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive information identifying one or more layers of the multi-layer transmission associated with the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device. ([¶0107] According to an embodiment, in the case of the LTE-A system, the terminal may feed back DL channel state information to the base station so that the base station uses the DL channel state information for DL scheduling. For example, the terminal measures an RS transmitted on DL by the base station and feeds back information extracted from the measurement to the base station in a form defined by the LTE/LTE-A standard. As described above, the information fed back by the terminal in LTE/LTE-A may be referred to as channel state information, which may include the following three types of information. [¶0108] Rank indicator (RI): The number of spatial layers that a terminal is capable of receiving in a current channel state.)
Regarding Claim 13:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive information indicating whether the UE is to transmit the activation signal to the reconfigurable intelligent surface device or a negative acknowledgement (NACK) to the base station if the UE is unable to decode the signal transmission. ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information. [¶0072] Resource allocation type 0/1 flag: Indicates whether the resource allocation scheme is type 0 or type 1. Type 0 applies a bitmap scheme to allocate resources on a resource block group (RBG) basis. In the LTE system, a basic scheduling unit is a resource block (RB) represented by time and frequency-domain resources, and an RBG includes a plurality of RBs, which is a basic scheduling unit in type 0. Type 1 allows for allocation of a specific RB in an RBG. [¶0073] Resource block assignment: Indicates an RB assigned for data transmission. Represented resources are determined according to a system bandwidth and a resource allocation scheme. [¶0074] Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): Indicates a modulation scheme used for data transmission and the size of a transport block, which is data to be transmitted. [¶0075] HARQ process number: Indicates the number of an HARQ process. [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission. [¶0077] Redundancy version: Indicates an HARQ redundancy version. [¶0078] Transmit Power Control (TPC) command for Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH): Indicates a TPC command for a UL control channel, PUCCH.)
Regarding Claim 14:
A method of wireless communication for a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a first number of repetitions of a signal transmission from a base station; ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission.) transmitting, from the UE, an activation signal to a reconfigurable intelligent surface device based at least in part on the UE being unable to decode the signal transmission, wherein the activation signal enables the reconfigurable intelligent surface device to generate a second number of repetitions of the signal transmission based at least in part on in-phase and quadrature signal information of the signal transmission stored at the reconfigurable intelligent surface device; ([¶0145] According to an embodiment, the control signal 1001b transmitted from the base station 901 to the RC 904 may include at least one of information about timing at which measurement for obtaining the optimal beam of the base station 901 and the optimal reflection pattern of the RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 (e.g., index information indicating a reflection pattern), information about a period (e.g., information about a beam sweeping period of the base station) at which synchronization signals for each of the plurality of beams of the base station 901 are transmitted, and information on the number of times the period at which the synchronization signals for each of the plurality of beams of the base station 901 are transmitted is repeated during a time interval in which a specific reflection pattern is applied. At this time, if information indicating the reflection pattern is the index information indicating the reflection pattern, an index for the corresponding reflection pattern may be defined as p (1≤p≤P) when the corresponding reflection pattern is, for example, Θ.sub.p in FIG. 6. A detailed description of the information about the timing will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13.[¶0071] HARQ retransmission. ) receiving the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device;([¶0177] According to an embodiment, the RIS 605 may reflect, to the terminals 603, 604 located at the shadow area 607, at least one beam directed to the RIS 605 among a plurality of beams of the base station 601 for performing the wireless communication with the terminals) and
Lee does not disclose:
decoding the signal transmission based at least in part on the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device.
IEEE discloses:
decoding the signal transmission based at least in part on the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device. ([Part II Section A] discloses channel modeling with signals from both the RIS and the Base station being decoded. [Part II Section B] discloses the use of a HARQ protocol in decoding the transmission data)
Lee and IEEE are analogous as they both pertain to wireless communication. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee to decode the signal as taught by IEEE in order to improve coverage within the mmWave and terahertz bands ([¶0005] Lee).
Regarding Claim 15:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
further comprising: receiving control information including a first value indicating the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station, and a second value indicating the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device. ([¶0016] In an embodiment, the control information may include at least one of timing information indicating a time point at which the terminal measures the strength of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams of the base station for each of the plurality of reflection patterns, indication information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns and order information indicating an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns are controlled, information about a transmission period of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams, and information indicating a number of times the transmission period of the synchronization signals is repeated for each of the plurality of reflection patterns.)
Regarding Claim 16:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
further comprising: receiving control information including a repetition pattern indication associated with the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device, wherein the signal transmission is decoded based at least in part on the repetition pattern indication. ([¶0016] In an embodiment, the control information may include at least one of timing information indicating a time point at which the terminal measures the strength of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams of the base station for each of the plurality of reflection patterns, indication information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns and order information indicating an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns are controlled, information about a transmission period of the synchronization signals corresponding to the plurality of beams, and information indicating a number of times the transmission period of the synchronization signals is repeated for each of the plurality of reflection patterns.)
Regarding Claim 17:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
further comprising: processing the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device based at least in part on whether the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device are quasi co-located with different downlink reference signals or a same downlink reference signal. ([¶0082] Referring to FIG. 2, the PDCCH 201 is time-multiplexed with a data transmission channel, Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) 202 and transmitted across a total system bandwidth. A region of the PDCCH 201 is represented as the number of OFDM symbols and indicated to a terminal by a Control Format Indicator (CFI) transmitted on a Physical Control Format Indicator CHannel (PCFICH). As the PDCCH 201 is assigned to starting OFDM symbols of a subframe, it has the advantage of allowing the terminal to decode a DL scheduling assignment as soon as possible, thereby reducing the decoding delay of a DownLink Shared CHannel (DL-SCH), that is, an overall DL transmission delay. Since one PDCCH carries one DCI message and multiple terminals may be scheduled simultaneously on DL and UL, multiple PDCCHs may be transmitted simultaneously within each cell. A cell-specific reference signal (CRS) 203 is used as a reference signal (RS) for decoding the PDCCH 201. The CRS 203 is transmitted across the total band in every subframe and subject to different scrambling and resource mapping depending on a cell identity (ID). Since the CRS 203 is an RS common to all terminals, terminal-specific beamforming may not be used. Therefore, a multi-antenna transmission scheme for the PDCCH in LTE is limited to open-loop transmit diversity. The number of ports for the CRS 203 is implicitly known to the terminal from decoding of a Physical Broadcast CHannel (PBCH).)
Regarding Claim 18:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
further comprising: receiving scheduling information indicating at least one of: a first time gap between a last repetition of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device in a downlink control channel and an availability of a downlink data channel, a second time gap between a last repetition of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device in a downlink data channel and an availability of an uplink control channel, or a third time gap between a last repetition of the signal transmission transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device in a downlink control channel and an availability of an uplink data channel; and communicating with the base station based on the scheduling information. ([¶0143] According to another embodiment, the control signal 1001a transmitted from the base station 901 to the RC 904 may include at least one of information about timing at which measurement for obtaining the optimal beam of the base station 901 and the optimal reflection pattern of the RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 (e.g., index information indicating a reflection pattern) and information about an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 are applied, and information about a time interval which needs to be applied for each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903. At this time, if information indicating the reflection pattern is the index information indicating the reflection pattern, an index for the corresponding reflection pattern may be defined as p (1≤p≤P) when the corresponding reflection pattern is, for example, Θ.sub.p in FIG. 6. Further, the information about the time interval which needs to be applied for each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 may be represented in a slot unit, a symbol unit, or an absolute time unit (e.g., s, ms, us, etc.). A detailed description of the information about the timing will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13.)
Regarding Claim 19:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
further comprising: receiving scheduling information for a first uplink transmission in a first time period and a second uplink transmission in a second time period; receiving control information indicating a number of repetitions of the first uplink transmission and the second uplink transmission, wherein the repetitions of the first uplink transmission and the second uplink transmission are to be transmitted from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device; transmitting the first uplink transmission in the first time period; and delaying the second uplink transmission based at least in part on the number of repetitions of the first uplink transmission. ([¶0143] According to another embodiment, the control signal 1001a transmitted from the base station 901 to the RC 904 may include at least one of information about timing at which measurement for obtaining the optimal beam of the base station 901 and the optimal reflection pattern of the RIS 903 for the target shadow area 905, information indicating each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 (e.g., index information indicating a reflection pattern) and information about an order in which the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 are applied, and information about a time interval which needs to be applied for each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903. At this time, if information indicating the reflection pattern is the index information indicating the reflection pattern, an index for the corresponding reflection pattern may be defined as p (1≤p≤P) when the corresponding reflection pattern is, for example, Θ.sub.p in FIG. 6. Further, the information about the time interval which needs to be applied for each of the plurality of reflection patterns of the RIS 903 may be represented in a slot unit, a symbol unit, or an absolute time unit (e.g., s, ms, us, etc.). A detailed description of the information about the timing will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13.)
Regarding Claim 20:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
further comprising: transmitting from the UE, a transmit power value to the reconfigurable intelligent surface device based at least in part on at least one of the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station having a different receive power than at least one of the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device. ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information. [¶0072] Resource allocation type 0/1 flag: Indicates whether the resource allocation scheme is type 0 or type 1. Type 0 applies a bitmap scheme to allocate resources on a resource block group (RBG) basis. In the LTE system, a basic scheduling unit is a resource block (RB) represented by time and frequency-domain resources, and an RBG includes a plurality of RBs, which is a basic scheduling unit in type 0. Type 1 allows for allocation of a specific RB in an RBG. [¶0073] Resource block assignment: Indicates an RB assigned for data transmission. Represented resources are determined according to a system bandwidth and a resource allocation scheme. [¶0074] Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): Indicates a modulation scheme used for data transmission and the size of a transport block, which is data to be transmitted. [¶0075] HARQ process number: Indicates the number of an HARQ process. [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission. [¶0077] Redundancy version: Indicates an HARQ redundancy version. [¶0078] Transmit Power Control (TPC) command for Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH): Indicates a TPC command for a UL control channel, PUCCH.)
Regarding Claim 21:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device are received in response to the activation signal. ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information. [¶0072] Resource allocation type 0/1 flag: Indicates whether the resource allocation scheme is type 0 or type 1. Type 0 applies a bitmap scheme to allocate resources on a resource block group (RBG) basis. In the LTE system, a basic scheduling unit is a resource block (RB) represented by time and frequency-domain resources, and an RBG includes a plurality of RBs, which is a basic scheduling unit in type 0. Type 1 allows for allocation of a specific RB in an RBG. [¶0073] Resource block assignment: Indicates an RB assigned for data transmission. Represented resources are determined according to a system bandwidth and a resource allocation scheme. [¶0074] Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): Indicates a modulation scheme used for data transmission and the size of a transport block, which is data to be transmitted. [¶0075] HARQ process number: Indicates the number of an HARQ process. [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission. [¶0077] Redundancy version: Indicates an HARQ redundancy version. [¶0078] Transmit Power Control (TPC) command for Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH): Indicates a TPC command for a UL control channel, PUCCH.)
Regarding Claim 22:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
wherein the first number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the base station and the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device are associated with different layers of a multi-layer transmission, further comprising: receiving information identifying one or more layers of the multi-layer transmission associated with the second number of repetitions of the signal transmission from the reconfigurable intelligent surface device. ([¶0107] According to an embodiment, in the case of the LTE-A system, the terminal may feed back DL channel state information to the base station so that the base station uses the DL channel state information for DL scheduling. For example, the terminal measures an RS transmitted on DL by the base station and feeds back information extracted from the measurement to the base station in a form defined by the LTE/LTE-A standard. As described above, the information fed back by the terminal in LTE/LTE-A may be referred to as channel state information, which may include the following three types of information. [¶0108] Rank indicator (RI): The number of spatial layers that a terminal is capable of receiving in a current channel state.)
Regarding Claim 23:
Lee in view of IEEE discloses the limitations of parent claims:
Lee discloses:
further comprising: receiving information indicating whether the UE is to transmit the activation signal to the reconfigurable intelligent surface device or a negative acknowledgement (NACK) to the base station if the UE is unable to decode the signal transmission. ([¶0071] In the LTE system, scheduling information for DL data or UL data is transmitted in DCI from a base station to a terminal. Several DCI formats are defined and operated by applying the defined DCI formats depending on whether scheduling information is for UL data or DL data, whether DCI is compact DCI with a small size of control information, whether spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas is applied, whether DCI is for power control, and so on. For example, DCI format 1, which is scheduling control information for DL data, is configured to include at least the following control information. [¶0072] Resource allocation type 0/1 flag: Indicates whether the resource allocation scheme is type 0 or type 1. Type 0 applies a bitmap scheme to allocate resources on a resource block group (RBG) basis. In the LTE system, a basic scheduling unit is a resource block (RB) represented by time and frequency-domain resources, and an RBG includes a plurality of RBs, which is a basic scheduling unit in type 0. Type 1 allows for allocation of a specific RB in an RBG. [¶0073] Resource block assignment: Indicates an RB assigned for data transmission. Represented resources are determined according to a system bandwidth and a resource allocation scheme. [¶0074] Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS): Indicates a modulation scheme used for data transmission and the size of a transport block, which is data to be transmitted. [¶0075] HARQ process number: Indicates the number of an HARQ process. [¶0076] New data indicator: Indicates an HARQ initial transmission or an HARQ retransmission. [¶0077] Redundancy version: Indicates an HARQ redundancy version. [¶0078] Transmit Power Control (TPC) command for Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH): Indicates a TPC command for a UL control channel, PUCCH.)
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUGH MARK ASHLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-0199. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-430.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Asad Nawaz can be reached at (571) 272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/HUGH MARK ASHLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 2463
/ASAD M NAWAZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2463
Prosecution Insights